Skinny toddlers

[nona]

Our son is so skinny he is just 2 and weighs in at about 22lbs. He has had every test going and appears to be normal, just following the 2nd to 9th centile. He has suffered in the past from a few nasty tummy bugs that left him with a severe lactose intolerance so he now only drinks goats milk and soya products. He is not a fussy eater and will eat most things just very small amounts. I would love to hear from anyone with a similar problem or any helpful advice.

Nona, mine is 2.3 years and was in the actual red (ie below the 2nd centile) for about the first 18 months of her life. She is a fussy eater but better than she was and now I have a few meals to fall back on plus lots of fruit and yogurt but she will, as you say, eat small portions. I haven't weighed her for quite a while now but I would say she is around 23lbs (with clothes on, which is how they weigh them after one and I did think about putting stones in her pocket!!!). My biggest problem is getting her to eat and after that finding clothes that fit as trousers will just fall off, even if I go back to 12-18 months as they allow so much room for big nappies.
However, I have relaxed so much in the past 9 months or so as she is the most active child I know, very sociable, people comment on how advanced her language is, etc, etc, which must mean there's nothing fundamentally wrong with her. She has boundless energy, always runs everywhere and tries to lead everyone elses children astray by running off and taking them with her in the park!
In my heart I now know there's nothing wrong but I can so relate to you, people often commenting on how small she is, I compared her to her other friends too which is silly and her being the same weight as many 12 month old babies I knew. I finally thought she's getting a good balanced diet (even if in small amounts), and is a happy soul so haven't bothered properly with the silly weight charts for about 12 months.
Oh, one other thing, I come from a small framed family, as does partner, we are/were both small (ie I used to be 8 stone before am now pregnant and partner used to be smaller before middle-age spread caught up a little bit!) so we weren't genetically programmed to make 'big' babies. Something those silly charts never take into account.
I do worry occasionally but more often now think she's happy and healthy so sod worrying, I do know how you feel but can't really offer any advice on getting the weight up but hope this helps.

Nona

I know exactly how you feel. My dd is 2.9 years old and weighs about 25lb. It didn't really bother me as she as always been small both in weight and height and still wears clothes for 18-23 months (sometimes smaller!!). However, members of my husbands family began to make comments that she was 'skinny' and that there 'wasn't an ounce of fat on her' and began to make me paranoid. I have always been slim and hate it when people make comments about me so it was even worse when they started on my dd .

In the end I took her to the hv, who weighed and measured her and assessed her diet. She said there was nothing wrong with her she was simply following her birth centile and that she was naturally small. Her diet was varied enough and as they say a child won't starve themself.

Strangely, the same people who made the 'skinny' comments are now saying she's putting a bit more on and feels more chunky. She hasn't!! So, it just goes to show they don't know what they're talking about.

My advice is don't worry, as long as your ds is getting a little bit from all the food groups he won't go far wrong. HTH

Thank you Janus & Lynne33 it is comforting to read your views and lovely to be told not to worry. I can't bear it when people comment on how tiny he is, however, he to is very sociable and his language is very advanced his little mates actually rely on him to ask for things for them, he tells us what they all need etc. What makes the situation worse is that his cousins are all so big way off the 95th centile, my 8 month old neice actually weighs more than him so when Grandpa from the UK visits he always looks so sorry for our boy, hes constantly telling me I should build him up with Minidex and other potions, but we haven't yet and I am not too keen. One more thing we can't seem to find any little pants for our boy who is desperate to wear big boys pants( I think he is ready for potty training)we only have Next/Marks&Spencers/Boots over here and even the smallest pairs just fall straight down. I suppose I could always put a bit more elastic in them!! anyway thanks again for your comments.

I would add to the advice others have given you, please don't worry. My dd is now 5 and weighs 33lbs and people still comment on how small she is for her age -"Oh she's never old enough to go to school is she?" being the most common one at the moment. I gave up worrying a couple of years back, but can identify with how you feel. I used to worry endlesly but the HV said she is a very active, bright child who prefers grazing at her food rather than eating 3 full meals. She also said that in the longer term this is very healthy as she is unlikely to have any worries about being overweight later in life - Lucky child!
I do understand about the clothes, when buying trousers dd is in age 3-4 and I still need to take them up, so don't worry, I'm sure you have a very happy healthy child.

I would add to the advice others have given you, please don't worry. My dd is now 5 and weighs 33lbs and people still comment on how small she is for her age -"Oh she's never old enough to go to school is she?" being the most common one at the moment. I gave up worrying a couple of years back, but can identify with how you feel. I used to worry endlesly but the HV said she is a very active, bright child who prefers grazing at her food rather than eating 3 full meals. She also said that in the longer term this is very healthy as she is unlikely to have any worries about being overweight later in life - Lucky child!
I do understand about the clothes, when buying trousers dd is in age 3-4 and I still need to take them up, so don't worry, I'm sure you have a very happy healthy child.

Nona - just to say there are advantages of having a little one too. My youngest is small for his age - and no, still haven't solved the trousers falling down dilemma. But he's very bright for his age, and averagely well-behaved. But he gets so much credit and praise for his achievements, as people think he's only 2. (He's 3.5). My eldest, on the other hand is very tall. He's only just 5, and people generally think he's at 6 or even 7. He has continually suffered from people's high expectations of him behaviour-wise. I constantly find myself saying "He's only just 5" - or whatever.

nona

Both our kids are on the skinnier side. DS aged 4.5 is only about 15 kg and dd aged one is well down at the bottom of the centile charts. However as long as both are healthy and the dr is happy each time he sees them (only usually when unwell!) then I have stopped worrying. I'm lucky though that we live abroad and do not have health visitors breathing down our necks as in UK.

With ds I used elastic braces on his trousers and put the tshirt over them when he had a vest on or he wore dungarees. He still doesn't have much of a waist and I have had to put extra elastic through his first set of big boy pants but he has since got broad enough to hold them anyway.

hth

LizS